I tried something with my classes today, the results of which confirm what I've been told and read about the Chinese education system: it makes kids memorize so many things but never teaches them to think critically about it.
I usually have the kids read the dialogue in the textbook in parts. This acquaints them with the statement-response/question-answer pattern of the grammar, but doesn't require them to think about the meaning of what they're saying at all.
Today I asked them to reenact the general meaning of the dialogue story, conveying in general what happens, but not having to recite verbatim. I had the Chinese assistant teacher translate to be sure they understood this distinction. Still, they tried to repeat it verbatim - unsuccessfully, because I only allowed them 10 minutes to prepare, not long enough to memorize it. I realized they can't analyze a text to separate the main ideas from the details, probably because they've never been asked to do that before. I tried it with 2 classes, getting same results. It makes me realize, if you want to do more advanced activities in China, you have to do a lot of learner training first.
- Posted via BlogPress on my iPhone
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